Wikipedia:Graphics tutorials

Various

Vector graphics tutorials

Application

• SVG with Inkscape
  - Fully featured SVG drawing program, also capable of PNG output
• Using Dia - page not maintained - Well suited to technical diagrams & flowsheets - PNG output, limited SVG support
• Using Microsoft Word
  - page not maintained - Familiar to many users, easy to use - PNG only, no SVG support

Specific tasks

• How to create graphs for Wikipedia articles
• Displaying a formula with commutative diagrams in TeX, in mathematics
• How to draw SVG circuits using Xcircuit, in electronics

• Wikipedia:Basic bitmap image editing
• 3DEM or GRASS GIS editors and GIMP
  bitmap editor (all free programs)

• How to improve image quality

Combination tutorials

• Picture tutorial
  : The best way to add your pictures to articles
• Maps and images for Wikipedia
• Coloring cartographic maps
• Keep in mind that images can contain hidden data and that you might want to remove the hidden data before publishing the images.
• Text can be overlaid onto images using Template:Annotated image or Template:Annotated image 4.

Filesize optimisation tutorials

• Wikipedia:Preparing images for upload - Describes how to keep image file sizes as small as possible.
• How to reduce colors for saving a JPEG as PNG
  (using The GIMP)

Open source programs

• pngquant - program that reduces PNG size by automatically reducing the number of colors. Visually lossless most of the time.
• PNGCrush - Old tried and true program that reduces PNG sizes using multiple zlib compression trials on disk.
• OptiPNG - Essentially a newer version of PNGCrush, it economizes the trial (reducing from 100s of short ones to a maximum of 7 longer ones) and does everything in memory. Usually produces identical results, and is much faster.
• AdvanceCOMP - A group of programs designed to reduce ZIP compression in many contexts, including PNGs (using AdvPNG).
• Jhead - A program for viewing, altering, or removing Exif data of JPEGs. Amongst other things, this allows for reducing file sizes.
• FileOptimizer - A
  GUI
  program (recommended for beginners) that uses multiple open source and freeware tools (including most of those listed here) to optimize a large number of media filetypes. Achieves better compression than any of the others used by themselves. Released under the LGPL.

Freeware programs

• PNGOUT - A program that optimizes PNGs by eschewing the usual zlib compression for a slower but more complete algorithm.
  • PNG Gauntlet - GUI for OptiPNG, PNGOUT, and DeflOpt (similar to AdvPNG in AdvanceCOMP)
• Image Analyzer - Amongst other things, allows for
  color banding
  results in smaller files of the same or higher quality.)
• JPG Cleaner - Removes Exif data from JPEGs, making the files smaller.
• JPGExtra and PNGExtra - Programs that losslessly optimize JPEGs and PNGs by cleanly removing all non-image data.

Vector graphics software

• Adobe Illustrator (Non-free)
• CorelDraw
  (Non-free)
• Dia (Free)
• DrawPlus (Non-free)
• Inkscape (Free)
• MetaPost (Free)
• Sodipodi (Free)
• Xara Xtreme
  (Non-free and Free versions)
• xfig (Free)
• and many more...

3D software

• Autodesk 3ds Max (non-free)
• Autodesk Maya (non-free)
• Autodesk Softimage (non-free)
• Blender (Free)
• LightWave 3D (non-free)
• OpenFX [1] (Free)
• POV-Ray (Free for non-commercial distribution)
• and many more...

Raster graphics (bitmap) software

• Adobe Photoshop (Non-free)
• CodedColor
• GIMP (Free)
• Paint.NET (Free)
• Paint Shop Pro
  (Non-free)
• and many more...

Word processors with vector-graphics facilities

• Microsoft Word (Non-free)
• OpenOffice.org Writer (Free)
• LibreOffice Writer (Free)
• and many more...

Panorama software

• Hugin (Open source)
• Autostitch (Non-free; full demo available)
• PTAssembler (Shareware, based on the open source
  Panorama Tools
  )
• PTGui (Shareware, based on the open source
  Panorama Tools
  )

• 3D graphics, Word processors, Graphics, Computer graphics, Page layout, Image editing
• Images for cleanup
  : images that need improvements
• Image use policy: general information on using images on Wikipedia
• Public domain image resources: sources for public domain images, organized topically
• Prokudin-Gorskii photographs (scroll down)
• Wikipedia:SVG Help
  Technical help for problems with uploaded SVGs

• Grokking the GIMP: a comprehensive on-line book covering the GIMP, as well as graphic and digital photo editing in general